“The Longer Students Were Out of School, the Less They Learned,” concludes Harry Anthony Patrinos, an education economist for the World Bank, in an analysis of data from around the world.
Government-imposed lockdowns averaged 21 weeks, and led to significant learning loss, summarizes Fordham's Jeff Murray.
By the start of the 20-021 school year, “it had become clear that it was possible to safely open schools,” writes Patrinos. But many schools around the world stayed closed for much longer.
"The death rate does not correlate with school closure," writes Murray.
"Keeping schools open should be a priority" in any future epidemic, Patrinos writes. "The evidence shows that the health benefits of school closures seemed to have been lower than the cost of learning losses.”
In Sweden, where schools remained open through ninth grade, students didn't suffer learning loss. The country's "excess" death rate was lower than the European and global average, writes Johan Anderberg on Unherd. "According to the WHO’s latest figures, Sweden had an average excess death rate during 2020 and 2021 of 56 per 100,000," compared to 109 in the UK, 111 in Spain, 116 in Germany and 133 in Italy.
Lockdowns didn't just have educational costs. I wonder if the health benefits of lockdowns exceeded the health costs in terms of obesity, depression, suicide, drug abuse and child abuse. I suspect not.
A new study in 11 U.S. states links online instruction to higher failure rates on state tests, reports Emma Camp in Reason. Achievement declines were not as severe for students offered in-person instruction.
CDC: Covid deaths by age and sex, ymd 2020-01-01 to 2023-06-10 (1257 days)
Covid deaths to age cohort 5 to 17.99: 874.
On a deaths per day basis, the commute to school poses a greater threat.
Most Covid deaths to people under age 18 related to serious comorbidities.
The Wuhan coronavirus induces asymptomatic infection or mild symptoms in otherwise healthy children and adults under age 30 or so. 75% of US Covid deaths occurred to people over age 65.
The sun rose in the East this morning, and set in the west.
BTW, if you ever find yourself on a Pacific Coast beach, notably Swami Beach in Encinitas or Torrey Pines, listen to the sound of the rocks as they tumble over each other as the surf goes in and out. A truly beautiful sound.